Nice thread topic!

I've always enjoyed experimenting with different tunings on the guitar from simple string changes (like dropping the E to a D) to far more complex tunings involving most of the strings.

The album Led Zeppling III (starting off with Immigrant Song) is what kicked in the door for me a very long time ago. Jimmy Page was brilliant and daring to have most of the songs on that album have their own unique tunings. It really opened me up to the limitless possibilities for new and interesting song arrangements.

Peace,
Lucian

I have an uncle who had an old guitar that he tuned down a couple of semitones to put less stress on the soundboard. I really enjoyed playing it, as you said it had a different vibe. I wouldn't mind having a guitar that could be permanently tuned a little lower, but a guitar settles to the tension of strings into it's perfect set, just like our bodies get used to a certain weight.

Guitar strings are also designed for a preset tension, so if you constantly change your tunings, you will find that your guitar is never perfectly in tune. I have a couple of slide guitars that I keep in Open A (Sevastopol) tuning. One is a dobro and I have just purchased a set of strings that are optimised for Open G. This means that the 1st, 5th and sixth strings are permanently raised. Haven't tried it yet.

I don't mind doing things like dropping my 6th string down to D for a tune and then back up, but if you are doing gigs, its not a good look to be tuning in between every song.

I ve used slack tuning for a number of reasons,

1.) I use dropped D, Dagad, and Neil Young's tunings to force myself to adapt to new conditions.I also enjoy playing melodies against repeated drone notes.

2.) Heavy strings have a better tone quality on my acoustic, but they put more stress on the guitar and on my hands By tuning a step low and using a capo i gett a thicker string and a lower action.

3.) I often base my tuning around woden flutes and other instruments with fixed pitches.

4.) my Melobar lapsteel can be tuned many ways, i like open D

5.) i used to live in a rented house that had a messed up electical system that was grounded to the plumbing. Guitar amps would always produce a low hum which also carried the signals of low frequency FM radio statons- mostly over the top evangelists. Since i couldn't beat the Hum, I tuned to it, used a ProCo Rat for distortion, and rattled the windows a bit.. The slobbery fuzz tone was cool with agressive Trem bar use and the feverish religious ranting seemed to add to the whole effect.

I tune a half step lower because I have mad love for horn players...
...open D major is solid, open G is solid, open C is solid, and open E major is solid but its easy to break strings, leo koetke does that.

LOTS of guys do this



Hendrix, Van Halen just to name a few



the slack in the string is nice...tonally, it's not a dramatic difference...we're talking about a half step here



try C# -- that's a wicked low vibration, that you should be able to feel in your balls

Apparently Fender has come up with a Stratocaster that has a multi-position knob that'll let it sound like a tele, or give you a number of alternate tunings, all with a turn of the knob. No re-tuning required. It's not supposed to be midi. Perhaps it reads the vibration of the string and converts it to another note. How they can do this without being "digital" is beyond my comprehension, unless I think real, real hard. If the batteries go dead it's supposed to sound just like a regular old US Strat. As for detuning to Eb I don't know it that is one of the options, but maybe. I used to try tuning down a half-step like Stevie ('cause Jimi did it and he liked the sound), Jimi ('cause it made it easier for him to sing), or Iommi (well, 'cause I guess it hurt his nubs less), but found it to be a major pain in the ass at gigs. Not to mention what happens when one of those crazy harmonica players jumps on stage uninvited.